Help Me Title This lol
by facelesswriting
Summary: Hermione's been in the ministry for years doing low-level filing, when suddenly a marriage law is passed and she has no power to fix the injustice for the purebloods. What's a girl to do?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Hermione sighed as she tossed the letter into the growing pile. Ronald and his incessant letters were becoming quite bothersome. She leaned on her elbows on the scattered desk in her unusually messy office.

It was three years after the war and Hermione was steadily working her way up the Ministry Hierarchy. At first, when they'd offered her a place as the Understudy of the Wizengamot, she'd accepted happily, thinking she'd be offering input on the cases and studying the laws. Naturally, when she'd been informed she'd only be a type of secretary, refiling old cases and managing the mail to the members of the Wizengamot, she'd been furious, even going so far as to bring it up to Kingsley.

After all he'd done for the Order of the Phoenix had reached the press, Kingsley had been a natural choice for the next Minister of Magic. He had, however, nothing better to offer her but an apology. It seemed that though Harry and Ron had been allowed into Auror training after the war, she just didn't have enough schooling to prompt immediate placement into a high-ranking Ministry job.

After three years of back-breaking work, she'd finally promoted- sort of.

Instead of organising, she was now working on pulling any and all files that would have to do with any of the Wizengamot's cases. While still remedial, it was something.

However, when she'd returned home to tell Ronald the good news, she was confronted with one Lavender Brown wearing an extremely smug smile on her doorstep. It turned out that Lavender had never forgiven her for the incident in fifth year, choosing to believe that Hermione had stolen Ron from her, using the love potion debacle as her chance. Further, during all of Hermione's late nights at the office, Lavender had wormed her way back into Ron's life- or rather, his bed.

When Lavender told her what had been going on, letting Hermione peruse her memories in a Pensieve to be sure, Hermione had reacted in the exact way Lavender had wanted: she kicked Ron's sorry arse to the kerb. Ron, however, didn't react the way she wanted. All she had wanted was for Ron to look at her the same way he had in fifth year, but instead he was horrified, breaking off all contact.

That was three months ago, and Ron's continuous efforts to win Hermione back hadn't stunted in the slightest.

That is, until _this_ happened.

It seemed that during all their..._excursions_, Lavender had gotten pregnant, hence the letters. Ron had chosen to do the honourable thing and marry the girl. While he didn't want too large a family, he had always wanted one. This was his chance to have a doting housewife raise his children while he was off saving the world one last on-the-run Death Eater at a time, something that he must have realised he could never have with Hermione.

And while Hermione had been over the sordid ending to her love affair almost as soon as it had ended, she did not think she was required, under any circumstances, to attend the wedding of her past lover and the woman he'd basically left her for.

As always, Ron was unable to see her side of it and desperately wanted her to come. She'd told him that there had never been a chance for the rekindling of their romance, said the flame was burning out anyway, reminded that he would soon have a wife to be faithful to, but he refused to recognise that he could not make her fall back in love with him the way he thought she'd once been.

Sitting in her too-small, stuffy, and poorly lit office, she wondered if she'd ever been as in love with him as she thought she'd been, or if she'd always been more in love with the _idea_ of him.

She was pulled from her melancholy thoughts at a light rapping on her doorway, having left the door open as she usually did. She smiled, "Hullo, Harry."

His normal easy-going grin was a tad forced as he held up a page of parchment. "You get one too?" He asked without preamble.

Hermione's smiled dropped off altogether as she glanced back down at where she'd tossed Ron's latest invitation letter. "Harry, just because Ron and I can't work it out doesn't mean you and Ginny-"

"Stop Hermione. We've been through this before. It has nothing to do with you and Ron and everything to do with Ginny and I. We would have never worked."

Though she could see the tightness in his eyes and knew he was lying, Hermione nodded her head anyway. Everything had been tense at first when she'd broken it off with Ron, though even his family understood her decision.

But when Harry had taken her side of things, it all got a bit harder. Hermione and Ginny had never been close friends. They merely knew each other by association so it wasn't a problem for Hermione that Ginny couldn't stand to look at her anymore. It was a problem for Harry. He'd been furious with Ron for what he'd done to Hermione, refusing to talk to him for several weeks, a feat made more impressive due to the fact that they were partnered in the Auror Department now. While eventually he'd bridged a cool camaraderie with his once best friend, it'd hurt Ginny to see Harry and her brother not getting along. It all started with a small riff in their relationship- Ginny attending Sunday dinners alone, and Harry spending Sundays holed up at Hermione's- but it'd eventually grown too big for them to handle.

Ginny could not accept Harry's choice in friend; Harry could not accept Ron's choice in behaviour.

Eventually Harry had moved himself and little Teddy in with Hermione- it was the least she could do seeing how she blamed herself for the whole thing- and Ginny had gone running back to Dean Thomas.

The press had a field day.

"-'ione. Hermione! Are you even listening?"

Hermione looked up from where she'd been staring at her desk. "Sorry, I must have been somewhere else. What?"

"I said Teddy's sick. I really can't leave him with Andromedea with how her health has been. It's enough that she looks after him all day while I can't."

"That's alright Harry. I'll bring home take away."

"Chinese?"

"Always," she grinned. "And Harry?" He turned back from leaving, "You can go to the wedding. He was your best mate; you should be there. Don't mind me."

Harry grimaced, his glasses sliding down his nose as he did, "You know I would, Hermione, but I don't think I can face Ginny…" The '_with Dean'_ went unsaid.

"I understand. Tell Teddy I said to feel better."

He smiled as he left, shutting the door behind him. He always forgot that she liked to keep it open, at least giving her the illusion of space. She sighed, started to get up to open it, and changed her mind, sitting back down. She stared at the tome on her desk, _History of Marriage Laws_ it read. It was at least two thousand pages of dusty, boring history, and she had no idea why the Wizengamot would have any interest in it anyway.

She sighed again, wondering when the day had come that her heart had stopped beating with excitement at a piece of the past like this. It must have been a sad one, the day Hermione Granger lost her love of books.

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**A/N: Guys. Okay so I just found this draft, and I looked back on GoogleDrive. I started this fic literally at 12:27 am on January 7, *_2015*_. Four and a half years ago I started this fic and I just read through what I've got and it's a fic that I thought I _read_ and I've been like "Damn, I _cannot_ find that fic I liked so much! I wonder how it ended..." for _years_. Reading it was like when you go through your attic and find toys from your childhood that you'd forgotten about and all the memories just come _rushing _back.**

**WELL. I guess I get to decide how it ends now lol. As a sidenote, it probably won't end the way I originally intended, if I can piece it all back together to pull an end out of it anyway. We'll see. There was also a note attached to the line, "**Harry, just because Ron and I can't work it out doesn't mean you and Ginny-"**, where I said, "**I tried to think of a way to keep Harry and Ginny together, I've always loved them, but with Harry choosing Hermione's side of things, I just could see a way for it to work."** And I actually really don't like them together in the movies because she was written so poorly but I guess they worked in the traditional sort of story romance in the books. Anyway. No clue what's going to go down with all that yet. Maybe send me ideas? We can make this a tag-team effort since I really don't remember what's supposed to happen through all this.**

**Anyway! Let me know what you think! And can we just appreciate the last line one more time? "**It must have been a sad one, the day Hermione Granger lost her love of books.**" Like damn, I just broke my own heart?**

**For now,**

**Faceless**

**PS In case you're here from Hands, I *promise* I will never forget about that fic, or stop it. I'm working on the last chapter and it's an epilogue spanning actual years, rather than writing a sequel with the super short chapters that seem to piss you guys off more than anything lol. The last chapter alone, ****_so far,_**** is like the length of a quarter of the fic. And hey, if you're not here from Hands, go check it out; it's p chill.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Hermione felt bad for them. She really did. For Teddy, it was because sicking up was never any fun, least of all in the middle of the night when you were three and supposed to be dreaming of unicorns and rainbows and whatever else graced the dreams of toddlers. For Harry, it was because taking care of a sicking up three-year-old in the middle of the night could not be any fun.

But she had no intention of finding out.

She pulled the pillow over her head and tried to ignore the crying and go back to sleep. It was the first night in mayhap a month that her dreams hadn't been plagued by the faces of the dead and their killers. So of course it was bound to be interrupted.

After a few more minutes of laying there, she sighed and swung her feet over the edge of the bed. She'd _told_ him that Chinese take away would not be good for the poor child's stomach. She'd _told_ him that. But did he listen? Of course not.

She padded her bare feet down the stairs of their flat and into the kitchen. She put the coffee pot on- feeling that Harry would need it, and if he didn't, she would- and grabbed a glass of cool water to bring to the little one. She hesitated in the doorway, turned and grabbed a flannel from a drawer, wetting it in the sink, and headed back upstairs.

She walked into the loo, where Teddy was standing between Harry's knees, while Harry knelt behind him and held his waist. When the boy had finished, nothing left in his stomach, his hiccupping sobs returned.

"I know, Teddy-Bear." Harry tried to sooth, but the child would have none of it.

"Here, baby." Hermione walked in and handed the small child the glass. "Rinse your mouth and spit. Tastes bad doesn't it?"

Teddy did as he was told and she lay the wet flannel on his face as he leaned back against Harry's shoulder. Harry looked up at her, silently thanking her, before he said, "He didn't make it in here. He was sleeping in my room, but on the floor-"

"I'll get it."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief as he snuggled Teddy closer to him, trying to comfort the sick child. Hermione went into Harry's room, spelled away the mess on the floor and pulled all the covers from the bed.

Walking back into the bathroom, she told Harry to get up. She lay the bedding on the floor and turned to Teddy, "It's like a fort. Cool, right?"

Teddy nodded a bit, sticking his thumb in his mouth. He let Harry lay him down on the floor, and Hermione went to send a memo to the Ministry saying she wouldn't be in for work that day. It wasn't as if she did a lot; they could survive without her.

When she went in to tell Harry, she found him and Teddy asleep in their makeshift bed. She flicked off the light and stumbled off to find her own bed.

When she woke in the morning, she found the coffee still magically heated in the pot from the night before and Harry and the cub, as they called him, still asleep on the bathroom floor. She woke Harry, trying not to jostle the little one, and told him that she'd be fine for the day.

Hours later, Teddy stirred and asked for his dad. Hermione smiled at him and informed him that Harry would be home later, remembering how Harry had cried the first time the boy had called him that; she still wasn't sure if it had been happy or sad tears that day. She shook the thoughts from her head and made a fussy Teddy soup for lunch. He seemed well, he could keep it all down, but he was tired and cranky. Trying to keep him occupied, she spent the day with him playing various games. His hair alternated between a frizzy brown when he liked her because he was winning and a dull grey when he was upset and losing, making Hermione laugh.

His fever had yet to break by the time Harry had gotten home so Harry firecalled Andromedia to tell her Hermione would be home with him the next day too. A third day passed this way, then the weekend, and Hermione never once heard anything about what the Wizengamot had wanted with that book. She and Harry had stopped getting the Profit over a year ago, and the Quibbler didn't report on politics. Harry, buried as he was in his work, simply didn't listen to the gossip.

* * *

**A/N: Ugh. Hermione is such a good person and they make such a cute family. Let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Hermione walked briskly to her office that rainy monday morning. She was, quite unlike herself, glad to have missed work for a few days. While she knew she should have gone in over the weekend to make up for the work she hadn't done, she and Harry had taken Teddy to the muggle park down the street instead. Sunday they spent hiding away from the Weasleys.

She sighed as she checked in her wand at the front desk and was dutifully making her way to her office when Madam Bones stopped her.

"Miss Granger, would you be a dear?"

Afraid of agreeing before she knew what was wanted of her, she asked what was going on. The Ministry had seemed unusually busy that morning and being accosted by a frazzled member of the Wizengamot was certainly unusual as well.

"Haven't you heard?" When Hermione shook her head, hiding her growing temper well, Madam Bones explained, "Well, there's the new marriage laws, but of course you will have heard about that already. Trials begin today for the Purebloods, but Head Undersecretary Wilson is home sick with the flu. Would you step in?"

As she was being handed a wonderful opportunity to work her way up in the Ministry, Hermione just agreed, not mentioning her lack of knowledge of the new marriage laws. Madam Bones told her of the room they'd be in and the time she was to arrive and left Hermione to drop her coat and other personal items in her office.

When Hermione was in her seat in the courtroom, Madam Horbertson showed her the workings of the shorthand they used, explaining that there was a spell on the parchment that as soon as she stopped writing, fifteen or so centimetres from the bottom, the shorthand would be filled in with all the correct lettering.

It was a handy piece of magic, but Hermione didn't have time to marvel over it as the first person was lead in to stand trial.

Theodore Nott, a Slytherin from Hermione's year at Hogwarts that had fled during the war, was brought in to stand in the centre of the room. He looked up at the members of the Wizengamot gathered there, Hermione noted that not all of the members had come, and scowled as Madam Bones stood to speak.

Her voice rang clear as a gavel would have, "In accordance to Wizarding Marriage Law Number 1748, any and all wizards or witches under suspicion are required to form a union with that of a Halfblood or Muggle Born within one year after reaching the age of seventeen or after their trial is held, unless otherwise tied.

"Mr. Nott, are you engaged, married, or do you have or are you expecting a child?"

Hermione watched him pale as she furiously scribbled out what was going on. When she first heard what Madam Bones was saying, she'd frozen in shock at what was going on. On the floor below, he shook his head.

"The Wizengamot would like to inform you that you are under suspicion. Unless you have anything to say in your defense, you have one year to be married." Madam Bones raised her gavel, but Nott spoke up.

"I-I've got a girlfriend though! And I left during the war. My mum and I went to France; we didn't want anything to do with You-Know-Who and what he was doing!"

"Are you aware, Mr. Nott, of your father's role in the war?" One of the other members asked.

Nott went even paler, "Yes, but I didn't have any part of it! Mum and I left him here. We needed the money so she couldn't divorce him, but we left! We have nothing to do with him anymore, and he's in Azkaban!" By the end, he was practically screaming with his panic.

"Mr. Nott, may I inquire of the blood status of your significant other?" A third member stood.

"She's," Nott's shoulders hunched in defeat. "She's a Pureblood."

"Theodore Nott, you have one year to be married to a witch or wizard of your choosing with the blood status of that of a Halfblood or Muggle Born under Wizarding Marriage Law Number 1748. Under Wizarding Marriage Law Number 1749, any and all wizards or witches married under the aforementioned law are to have a minimum of one year of successful marriage. Mr. Nott, we will be in touch." The echo of the gavel had faded before Nott looked away from Madam Bones. He ran from the room.

Much of the cases were spent this way. There were a few people brought in that were due to be married, no doubt rushed engagements once they'd heard of the law, and a few that were dating Halfbloods or Muggle Borns already, but most of the people brought in had cases similar to Theodore Nott's. By the end of the day, Hermione was exhausted, but more than that, she was livid.

All the work the Wizengamot had been making her do was to persecute those they deemed unworthy. This was not why they fought in a war! They had been calling for equality, not for her former classmates to be paraded in front of her like cattle to be butchered at will! The worst part was what would happen if they didn't -or couldn't because some of Purebloods had lost all social standing after the war and had no one close enough to marry at whim- comply, all of their assets would be taken from them- houses, money, heirlooms, all of it- and they would be tossed into Azkaban for three years, only to get out and have nothing to call their own!

She was thankful when the Wizengamot announced the last trial of the day. She couldn't wait to get home to tell Harry what was going on. While some of the hero worship had died down since the war, Harry was still a prominent figure in the press and what he said had a lot of weight to it. If he could announce his outrage, maybe it would be enough to revoke the law.

Hermione's mind was elsewhere as she scribbled down what Madam Bones was saying. She hadn't even bothered to look up this time yet because she was just reciting the law again. When she heard the name of the person, however, her head shot up.

Draco Malfoy stood in the middle of the room where so many others had stood today, looking straight at her, betrayal flashing in his eyes.

While she still did not like Draco Malfoy, she had to admit that he was the last person that should be standing trial over something like this. When his father had been taken to Azkaban and he'd become Master of the House, Malfoy had done everything he could to right his family's wrongs. Though he'd taken the Mark, Harry had spoken for him three years ago at his trial, telling how it was Malfoy's wand that had saved him, how Malfoy hadn't killed Dumbledore, how Malfoy was a victim just like the rest of them.

While Hermione wasn't sure if she quite believed it, the Wizengamot had let him go. Unable to find a job, what with the Mark on his arm, he was now a social recluse, hardly ever seen in the public anymore. One thing that was known about him though was that he single-handedly supplied the money to rebuild Hogwarts. It was speculated that he was the one that anonymously donated so much money to the various orphanages that had popped up as well.

If anyone could make a case to withstand "suspicion", it would be him.

"Are you aware, Mr. Malfoy, of your father's role in the war?" The man from Nott's case, as well as several others, repeated.

Malfoy, standing there in his nice but hardly designer robes, squared his shoulders, "I am."

"And?" The man asked.

"I am not my father, sir."

Madam Bones lifted her gavel, "Draco Malfoy, you have one year to be married to a witch or wizard of your choosing with the blood status of that of a Halfblood or Muggle Born under Wizarding Marriage Law Number 1748. Under Wizarding Marriage Law Number 1749, any and all wizards or witches married under the aforementioned law are to have a minimum of one year of successful marriage. Mr. Malfoy, we will be in touch."

* * *

**A/N: "We will be in touch." ooh shivers. I was such a good, studious little writer, what happened? Also can we appreciate how much I hate Ron and Hermione? Like I don't think they stay together in any of my fics, I hate them together that much. Till next time. Let me know what you think!**


	4. Chapter 4

"Harry! Harry Potter!" Hermione slammed the door closed as she walked inside. The pitter-patter of little feet came running from the kitchen, and Harry appeared not far behind Teddy.

"Do you have any idea what I've just spent the day doing?" She yelled at him, swinging the tot into her arms as she did so.

"We've had an unusual amount of court calls to serve last Friday and today. They wouldn't tell us why so I picked up the Profit." He said by way of answering.

"How could they do this to those people!" She shouted, not really looking for an answer and pushing past him into the kitchen where she swiped his cup of tea. She bounced Teddy in her arms to show him she wasn't mad at him and nothing they were talking about would affect him, and he giggled, poking her face.

"You know the Ministry, Hermione, this whole thing will blow over in a matter of months. It will be just like everything they did to me. Plus, look at all the influence the Purebloods still have with all their money. Their funding is essential. The Ministry won't be able to run the way it needs to if they stop donating or if their accounts are frozen."

"In a matter of months it will be too late. Don't you see? They have one year to be married. People are frantically getting engaged and married. It's all going to lead to a bunch of unhappy marriages and broken families in a few years. All of their lives will irrevocably be changed, and it's not fair! Besides, the Ministry _doesn't_ need their donations. They know that what were the most prominent family, the ones with the most money, won't be able to find people to marry. I don't know what you've heard, but they're not freezing access to their accounts either. They're confiscating everything."

"Hermione, that's illegal."

"They've added new, unfair laws. What's to stop them from changing the old ones? I shouldn't have taken those days off with Teddy; I should have stopped this!" She was trying to fling her arms about wildly as she usually did, and Teddy squirmed to get down before she inevitably dropped him.

"How, Hermione? You don't have that much influence. Not yet, anyway."

"But you do, Harry. You can change this. I think it's a good time to call in our old friend Rita Skeeter."

Harry sighed. Hermione felt bad that he had to do this when he hated the attention so much, but it had to be done. It should have been done sooner, before the law was passed. She was sure if it had been widely known what was going on, the public outcry would have put a stop to it.

"Why doesn't someone respectable- you know, someone that's redeemed themselves- do it? It would mean more coming from a Pureblood." She could see how tired Harry was as he said it, finally noticing the bags under his eyes that had been there for such a long time, they'd somehow stopped worrying her, but she couldn't relent.

"Like who, Harry? There aren't any powerful Purebloods left. They're all being blamed for what their parents have done!"

"Someone like Malfoy! He got off all his charges, he's been donating his fortune to help people, he's not had a speck of trouble since the war, he'd be perfect for it!" Harry shouted at her, and Teddy fussed harder to be put down. She glanced at him and swung him lightly to the floor where he quickly scampered away from the yelling.

"I know you don't want to do this, but Harry, Malfoy's trial was today. He's being blamed for what his father did as well."

Harry sighed again, running his hand over his face and through his hair, suddenly calm. "Fine. Let's make dinner." And that was that.

**HGHGHG**

Draco Malfoy paced in his study, growing angrier by the second.

"Well, I just don't understand why we can't elope now," Pansy told him. "If you're married, you can't possibly get married again, right? And I haven't stood trial yet so when I go in, I can say I'm already married, and the law can't touch me or my bank account. So we move your funds into mine, then when they go to empty your account, it's all gone because it's in my name."

Draco scowled at her. "You conveniently forget about my three year stint in Azkaban."

"Oh, three years isn't that long. At least when you get back out, you'll have something left."

"Why aren't you asking Nott to do this?" He asked her again. She was avoiding answering him.

"I told you, Dray. You're my very best friend. How could I possibly?" She slowly batted her eyes, widening them as far as they'd go. The look didn't suit her.

"You already got him to transfer his funds, didn't you? And let me guess, you just happened to make a quick stop at Zabini's too before you came here?" It wasn't really a question. Everyone knew that the Parkinson family was in shambles. Pansy's mother had gotten a divorce while her husband was on the run. She'd wanted to distance herself from his mistakes with the Dark Lord. It wasn't enough to bring her up to good standing, however, because she'd kept Pansy around and word had gotten out from the final battle that Pansy had tried to give Potter up to the Dark Lord. Mrs. Parkinson disowned her daughter, but having been too close to criminals, her reputation was still stained. She disappeared two years ago, taking the Parkinson fortune with her.

"I don't know why you're being so fussy about this."

"Get out." He glared at her.

"Dray," she cooed, manipulation dancing in her eyes, "I'm the only friend you've got, Dray. What will you do when you've no money left? You know no one will marry you. You hardly got off your charges, and you've been a recluse since. Everyone knows the Malfoy fortune isn't what it used to be; you haven't even got the money to bribe someone to stay."

"Get out." He repeated, standing from his chair and going to open the door for her. "I wouldn't have money when I got out anyway. At least now it will go to a good cause to keep our government running instead of to some silly shopping spree."

She narrowed her eyes. "You'll regret this."

He adopted the sickly sweet expression she'd used earlier, "You never made a very good Slytherin, Pans. If you have to warn someone of regret, then you're obviously not a very big threat. Besides, you're so easy to see through."

"I'm just trying to help an old friend, Draco!"

"An old friend that you haven't spoken to in three years? You're not trying to help me. You see an opportunity for gain, and you tried to take it, screwing me over in the process!"

"How dare you. I've been loyal to you since the very beginning!"

"What a sweet little Hufflepuff you are. But the only thing you've been loyal to is your bank account. Get out of my house."

"It won't be yours for long," she teased over her shoulder as she glided out the door.

He slammed it behind her.

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**A/N: Let me know what you think! Also, for those of you who are curious, _Hands_ is finished! Like. Done!**


	5. Chapter 5

Harry had agreed to talk to Skeeter so before Hermione reported to the courtroom Tuesday morning she jotted off a quick note to the abominable woman, asking her to meet for an exclusive. She knew the woman couldn't resist when she said it could be published in any newspaper of Rita's choice. The woman's career had taken hits during the war, between her alternating sides and viewpoints, most people didn't give her interviews, and she could use her Animagus form anymore to spy for her exclusive information.

Hermione was already in a foul mood when she made it down to the lower levels of the ministry. Just the act of writing the letter had made her feel dirty, but knowing that she was about to continue to further act on a law she was against made her feel sick. She took her place anyway and got ready for another horrible day. It was much the same as the one before it, Purebloods were paraded through, one after the other, and made to plead once more for their freedom. The only difference between now and directly after the war was that now their freedom was from marriage and that there were no fair judgements. It could barely even be called a trial. No one got out without the same judgement being handed down. It was more of an elaborate notice.

As with yesterday, Hermione was relieved to hear the last person called. Her hand hurt from writing and she was furious that these poor people were put in these situations anyway.

As with yesterday, Hermione was surprised by the last person called in.

"In accordance to Wizarding Marriage Law Number 1748, any and all wizards or witches under suspicion are required to form a union with that of a Halfblood or Muggle Born within one year after reaching the age of seventeen or after their trial is held, unless otherwise tied.

"Miss Lovegood, are you engaged, married, or do you have or are you expecting a child?"

Hermione's head snapped up to stare Luna down.

"I am."

Hermione's mouth dropped open.

"To whom, may I ask?" Madam Bones asked her, sliding her spectacles down her nose. Everyone knew Loony Lovegood never left her house. It was in shambles, even years after the Death Eaters had attacked it, partially burned and one wing still totally destroyed, but she refused to leave. This was the first time she'd been in public since the final battle, even refusing medical treatment after the battle to go back to her home. All anybody heard of her was from the Quibbler, but she never did any of the interviews for it herself, and her employees were remarkably close-lipped.

"You may ask." Luna mused, in her absent kind of way. "If that is all?"

"To whom are you engaged or married?" Madam Bones asked, directly this time.

Luna's eyes flashed derisively for just a moment. It pulled on Hermione's memory, but she couldn't remember where she'd seen the expression. Hermione's musings were cut short by her surprise at Luna's tone, and even more by her words, "I said you could ask. I didn't say I'd answer."

"We need proof, Miss Lovegood." One of the members of the Wizengamot reasoned as if he were talking to a very young child.

Luna marched her way up to the stand with a purpose Hermione had never seen in her before. The slight girl- she really hadn't changed much since school- thrust her left hand under the nose of the man who had spoken. "Proof enough?" She demanded, "Or do you want to try to take it off? You can't, you know." She turned on her heel, without a glance at Hermione, and walked out.

There was murmuring among the Wizengamot, but Luna hadn't lied, the man said, the ring was a magical engagement ring, the old fashioned kind that nearly glowed. It was large enough to be seen across the room had they only thought to look before. Only old families still used cursed rings like that. Not until one of the participants died could the ring be removed.

After the court script had disappeared - gone to someone's "in" tray to be filed and reviewed later - Hermione ran from the courtroom. She barely stopped Luna before she got in the Floo.

"Luna! Luna, why didn't you tell anyone you were engaged? Congratulations!"

"Oh," Luna blushed, "well, we were never planning to get married. We had to for the law."

Hermione nodded. She had no doubt that there would be a lot of rushed engagements and marriages due to the new laws. "But why were you even called in here?" Hermione asked, feeling as if asking after Luna's personal life would be unwelcome after such a display. Still, she had to ask this; Luna had fought on their side of the war. She should have been safe from this madness.

"My father tried to give you lot up. He's-" Luna swallowed, and it was the first time Hermione could ever recall Luna having lost the vague absence in her eyes. Until this point, Hermione wasn't sure it actually could go away in entirety. "He's dead now. The Dark Lord killed him, but my family is still, well, you know." She finished in her vague way, turned and got in the Floo.

But the truth is, Hermione didn't know. In fact, she had never been more unclear on anything. Why would Luna be persecuted for her father's murder? If anything, it should just prove her innocence. And what kind of family did Luna come from?

Still lost in thought, Hermione meandered her way to her office to get her coat and bag. She was glad of working in the courtroom. Even if she was sure to get carpal tunnel, at least she was up-to-date on everything and there was no filing so she could get home earlier.

Even as she was thinking it, she noticed the file in her "in" tray. She sighed and dropped her things back down, picking up the file. It was the court script she had just filled out. She narrowed her eyes at it and contemplated leaving it for tomorrow.

She sighed again, absently thinking that she needed to count how often she sighed, she was doing far too much of it lately, and went into the back room to find the appropriate places for all the copies of the files.

She gathered her things once more, leaving late once again. After locking her door with the charmed key Ministry Officials used, she turned to head home and found none other than Draco Malfoy standing behind her, waiting.

She sighed - well, that's three in the last half hour at least - and turned back to unlock her door, ushering Malfoy inside when she opened it. She took a seat at her desk and motioned at the only other tiny chair the cramped space allowed.

"What? Don't want to work late, Granger?" He sneered as he walked past her to it.

"I just want to go home." She whinged.

He stopped, his facade dropping, "I'm sorry to bother you."

He sounded like he meant it, oddly enough, and it was enough to snap her out of her self-pitying mood. "No, I'm sorry. That was unprofessional of me. What can I do for you?"

He seated himself in the chair and she leaned forward at her desk, hands folded primly in front of her. "What? No insults?"

She smiled tightly, "Afraid not. That was always more Harry and Ron's forte than mine."

"Oh that's right. I'd forgotten. No punches, then?"

It was on the tip of her tongue to retort that he'd fully deserved it when she saw the mirth is his eyes. She gaped at him, "Draco Malfoy, are you joking with me?"

His happy expression soured. "Yes, well, I suppose it's been awhile since I've, er, behaved amicably with anyone. I guess I couldn't resist." She'd known he was a recluse but she'd thought he must've at least kept a few friends. She thought back about what she'd heard of him in recent years and couldn't come up with anything. Maybe he really didn't have anyone.

Her expression softened. "What can I do for you?"

"What's Potter doing about the new laws?" He asked abruptly, his expression hard.

The question caught her off guard, though she didn't really know what to expect. "Oh, er, we've gotten him an interview. He's going to announce how disgusted he is with what's going on. We're trying to get it reversed."

He nodded, "All right then. I'll be seeing you." With that he left, and Hermione stared after him for some time, flabbergasted before she sighed and gathered her things to leave for a third time.

* * *

**A/N: Hey all! There have been a couple questions so I thought I'd clear it up: this will NOT be a Harry/Hermione pairing I LOVE them platonically loving each other so I've never really liked that pairing. They're just best buds. Hermione WILL have a love interest though. Any guesses who?**

**As always, let me know what you think!**

**~faceless**


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